The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, MAR 13, 2023
Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, has entered into a long-term partnership with Dalmia Cement for supply of industrial wastes such as fly ash and spent pot lining for manufacturing low carbon cement. Under this partnership, Vedanta’s mega aluminium smelter at Jharsuguda will transport around 20 rakes of fly ash per month for 5 years to Dalmia Cement’s manufacturing units in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, and Assam, and supply SPL for 3 years to the company’s plant at Rajgangpur in Odisha.Vedanta Aluminium is a preferred supplier of high-quality fly ash to some of India’s leading cement producers, fostering industrial collaboration for production of low-carbon cement.
Fly ash is a high-volume by-product of thermal power generation using coal that caters to the electricity requirements of Vedanta’s aluminium smelters at Jharsuguda. Fly ash is a sought-after raw material in the cement industry, owing to its inherent cementitious properties which can be leveraged by cement makers to improve product quality, conserve energy, water and other valuable resources, and reduce the industry’s carbon footprint. Further, being a voluminous industrial waste product, fly ash comes with significant cost and energy advantages as well. In cement manufacturing, every tonne of fly-ash used can help save around 700-800 kg of carbon emissions, 4.2 million KJ of energy, and 341 litres of water.
Similarly, SPL is generated during the de-lining process of electrolytic pots (where alumina is converted into aluminium). It can be co-processed in cement plants as raw material, a source of energy, or to replace natural mineral resources (material recycling) and fossil fuel such as coal, petroleum, and gas (energy recovery) in industrial processes. In cement plants, this yields significant environmental benefits in terms of reducing emissions, fuel consumption, and dependency on natural mineral resources.
Speaking about the partnership with Dalmia Cement, Vedanta Ltd. Jharsuguda CEO Sunil Gupta said, “In our pursuit of promoting circular utilisation of industrial wastes and by-products, Vedanta Ltd., Jharsuguda is proud to partner with Dalmia Cement for effective management of industrial waste streams. Given the nature of the industry, a large-scale aluminium producer like Vedanta is a long-term reliable circular-economy partner for the cement industry. Strategic collaborations such as this will provide multiple benefits in terms of enhanced quality, sustainability and cost benefits to cement manufacturing, while helping us in gainful waste management. Our waste-to-wealth initiatives are designed to develop thriving value-chains for converting our by-products into resources for complementary industries and is a significant step forward in our journey towards becoming a leader in sustainable development.”
The spokesperson for Dalmia Cement said, “Dalmia Cement is one of India’s pioneering homegrown cement companies. As a prominent Indian cement manufacturer and thought leader, Dalmia Cement continues to aspire to enhance value in a sustainable way for all its stakeholders. Our partnership with Vedanta Aluminium demonstrates the commitment of both the companies towards supporting the sustainability agenda of both the cement and aluminium industry. We are delighted to partner with Vedanta in this initiative which will contribute towards our climate action targets.”
The company has also entered a long-term partnership with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for building greener roads with fly-ash in Odisha. To identify innovative ways of utilizing this industrial by-product, Vedanta Aluminium also conducts technical and business workshops with global waste utilization experts to create greater awareness on the benefits of using fly-ash in cement construction and develop the market for such products. The company also fosters hundreds of rural microentrepreneurs in the manufacturing of fly ash bricks by providing them with fly ash and technological know-how in manufacturing the bricks.
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.27 million tonnes in FY22. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 2nd in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2022 world rankings for aluminium industry, a reflection of its sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
